Not much and not a little

Sunflowers

During the last year, I noticed that the sunflower is often present in symbols related to Ukraine. Well, that is, the sunflower is associated with Ukraine. Did you notice or it only seems to me? Before, a sunflower or a field of sunflowers was just a popular photo location for me. Like a field of poppies.

As far as I remember, it was only once or twice when I stopped by the field of blooming sunflowers to take photos. I was always busy, or in a hurry. Meanwhile, the best part of my life is behind me, and it's as if I never lived. So let me start today with these colorful pictures I take on my smartphone recently.

Plum Pie from The New York Times

I love plums and everything made with them. When the plum season starts (almost 2 months), I often bake a plum pie. I don't remember where I got that recipe, but I really like both the taste and presentation.

And recently I came across a pie recipe on the BBC website. I would have passed, but I liked the preface to the recipe. It really made me smile:

"It is said that The New York Times published this plum pie recipe several years in a row at the numerous requests of American housewives. In the end, the patience of the editor-in-chief kicked in, and the newspaper printed the recipe in large print one last time - to print and hang on the refrigerator."

Why not try and see if it is really so special?

The recipe turned out to be very simple and quick to prepare. The plums should be sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon on top, I also added ground cloves. I would say that it is as good as my old recipe, although they are different. The high-ranking jury, represented by my husband, gave the recipe the highest rating, even though the plums should have been cut side down.

I didn't can anything on previous summer. Who knows it will last for so long. (Also, there were some, but we didn't listen.) So this summer I try new recipes and ideas. My last passion is eggplants. My mom used to love them, but she was never into canning. I do it when inspiration strikes. My hit this year is eggplant in spicy sauce. Compared to everything I did before - in a very spicy sauce 😂. How delicious it is! Spices, herbs.

I remember cooking in my childhood. The Soviet Union was a non-poor country. People worked all the time but received a pittance because the state took everything away. I will never understand why we always had a problem with the basic food. Why did we stand in long queues for milk every day? Not for almond or soy milk but for cow milk? Why did butter appear in the grocery store once every few days, and it was sold out in 2 hours? Why couldn't people be provided with at least the basics?

I was 15 or 16. Before the New Year, everyone tried to legally and illegally get goodies to the festive table. My parents sent me to stand in a queue for champagne. I had to stand for a couple of hours, and then one of them had to change me. Suddenly, it turned out that there was not much champagne left. A stampede began. I was short in a crowd of aggressive adults, they squeezed me and I started to suffocate. At the risk of angering my parents, I still managed to get out and get home. I had a shock. In the end, my classmate died like that - he was squeezed in a crowded bus and died on the way to a hospital. He had a weak heart.

But I was saying about cooking. From what could be bought in a store or on the market, the range was as follows. Ready? Herbs - dill, parsley, onion, garlic. Spices - black pepper, allspice, red pepper, bay leaf, cloves, ground cinnamon. Also acetic acid and citric acid.

On the market, you could also buy smuggled Polish magic "addons" - a mixture of seasonings, ammonium, aromatic essence in tiny bottles and colorful powder or dearer for decorating. Sometimes paprika from Hungary. I liked to cook, I learned from my grandmother and from books and magazines. And I had no idea that vanilla is a plant. Or there is olive oil (even extra virgin), and it is not only taken by the spoonful as folk medicine but used for dressing salads or (oh luxury) for frying. We made homemade vinegar from apples. Gosh, it's a shock now, but back then people drank it by the teaspoon because it's supposed to be good for health. Salads were dressed with refined sunflower oil or sour cream. Soy, chickpeas, lentils, or arugula, cilantro, basil, tarragon, thyme - these words were synonymous with capitalism. Cardamom sounded like the name of a musical instrument. When I first saw a bottle of grape vinegar or aceto balsamico in a supermarket in Italy, I stood there for a while and read and could not understand - is it wine or ...? And what about Modena? Isn't it ... a tree? Because our counterpart to the English word Vinegar was 9% Acetic Acid, a clear, colorless liquid. I learned about soy sauce when I was 25, and I first heard about brown cane sugar when I was in my 30s. What a ****** shame.

Team building: women only

Phew. Let's better return to the blessed 21 century with artificial intelligence, vegan meat and nuclear weapons. I met with my workmates on Friday night. It was a very small party - our HR, accountant, and me. They picked a bar located in a basement with the biggest choice of whiskey (and whisky) I have seen ever. I didn't go out for ages! The meeting place was very busy. The entrance to the bar is in the courtyard, and there are several other bars nearby, all busy. Young people, chatting, smiling, relaxing.💖🍹

Our accountant Mila has 2 children. Last year they moved to Austria where his husband's relatives live. They miss Ukraine very much, but ... The school her children attend is very nice, they have adapted somewhat and are already making progress, and have friends, besides, the school staff treats Ukrainian children very well. Mila said it's a difficult choice - to stay in Austria or to return to Ukraine. And this visit is her last argument added to the scales.

We talked about children, and parents, about how many Ukrainian families have already broken up due to the war. Two of our colleagues are also getting divorced because... wives don't want to return, husbands don't want to leave. I thought - how wise was to stay where I live, by my husband. For better or for worse, until death do us part...

We were chatting until the bar turned empty and the DJ turned on a fascinating jazz version of "Start shining bright above you". I was late for the last metro train. Prices for a taxi grow higher the closer it is to midnight when curfew starts (*1,5 *2, *3...), so I called my hubby Nick, luckily he was back home, and he picked me up by car. When I walked the night streets toward him, it was so very unusual for a big city - quiet, no people, no music, only a few cars. Kyiv wasn't like this since... 1944? We walked in the streets even during covid. I recalled again the first few weeks of a big war, the empty streets like in a disaster film. It will probably be one of my greatest memories of the war - the deserted streets of Kyiv.

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Almost a year and a half

The Ukrainian Independence Day is on the 24th of August. Exactly one and a half years since the open invasion. There will be no big performance or celebration, certainly, we are still fighting for our Independence, in 21 the century... The authorities closed the main street today for the drivers and started to bring burnt russian military equipment for the "Parade", same as a year ago. I will not come here on the 24th, I've got enough of it.

In fact, we all struggle. Those who are at the front, they have stress and adrenaline, and for us in the rear, stress is like a slow poison that eats you from the inside day by day. Relatively in the rear, because at any moment a missile can hit anything regardless of the initial target.

Many of my acquaintances are now dissatisfied (outraged) with the actions of our government, in particular the local government. Because it was necessary to spend money on shooting movies and changing paving stones or symbols on monuments after 2014, or better since 1999, and now it is time to produce shells, drones, and ammunition. We are told that corruption exists in every country at all times, but corruption in a country of stable democracy and civil society is one thing, and quite another thing in a country at war which... ah. You know what I mean. I also know that there are articles of the budget, and there are patrons, by the way, the budget of a state institution is the craziest thing I've ever heard. But when you live in a war you don't care about shades of grey, things are either black or white.

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Well, the summer is almost over. A season to slow down, relax and recover. Or to speed up, go to your dream, start new projects, or travel around the world. In the outer world. Our summer is not only when, but where. Here - none of the above. I don't know what to do or where to get answers or motivation. The only certain motivation is to survive. From Dusk till Dawn. Ukrainians are damn champion survivors.

Anyway, in less than 2 weeks I will be driving toward the west of Ukraine to be with my other family whom I miss so badly. This is my motivation for now.

Hugs,
@zirochka

P.S. Thanks to everyone for reading my crazy notes, for dropping comments and sending your prayers and positive vibes to this part of the world. You are the best!